Writing pad with synchronized background audio and video and handwriting recognition

ABSTRACT

A stand alone low cost writing pad includes a rechargeable battery, a low capacity memory, a low power processor, a first pair of connectors and supports audio, video and digital ink capturing functionalities. The writing may be detached from and re-attached to a stand alone base unit using the first pair of connectors. The base unit includes another rechargeable battery, high capacity memory, high power processor and a second pair of connectors. First data bus of the writing pad and second data bus of the base unit respectively run into the first pair of connectors and the second pair of connectors thereby ensuring that a communication pathway is set up between the writing pad and base unit when the writing pad is attached to the base unit. The base unit receives the captured audio and digital ink from the writing pad via the communication pathway and the high power processor runs voice recognition and optical character recognition software on received data to generate a second data. The second data is displayed on the writing pad and/or stored in the high capacity memory for future use.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/081,384 filed Jul. 16, 2008, which is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

[Not Applicable]

SEQUENCE LISTING

[Not Applicable]

MICROFICHE/COPYRIGHT REFERENCE

[Not Applicable]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to computing systems and moreparticularly to dock able computing systems.

2. Description of the Related Art

The traditional way of taking down notes on a paper has a disadvantagethat all information is lost if the paper gets misplaced. Anotherdisadvantage is that archiving notes needs huge storage space. Analternative is to record a speech or a presentation or a conversationbetween two people. A person may be interested in taking down notes andrecording the speech or the conversation simultaneously. Using digitalink and a multimedia recorder is thus an option that needs less storagespace than paper based notes and gives full flexibility to the person interms of ways in which the person can store the speech or theconversation. A notepad that supports digital ink and multimediarecording may be used for writing and recording notes. The above notepadmust also comprise voice recognition functionality and optical characterrecognition functionality thus necessitating high memory and highprocessing power in the notepad. Presence of high memory and highprocessing power lead to increase in cost of a notepad and high cost ofa notepad prohibits a person from using the notepad for recording notes.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the artthrough comparison of such systems with various aspects of the presentinvention.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A device that supports digital ink capturing and multimedia capturingfunctionalities when operating in stand alone mode and functions as adisplay of a computer when docked into the computer, substantially asshown in and/or described in connection with at least one of thefigures, as set forth more completely in the claims. These and otheradvantages, aspects and novel features of the present invention, as wellas details of illustrative aspects thereof, will be more fullyunderstood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For various aspects of the present invention to be easily understood andreadily practiced, various aspects will now be described, for purposesof illustration and not limitation, in conjunction with the followingfigures:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a writing pad and a base unit where thewriting pad functions differently when docked into the base unit inaccordance with various aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating interaction between aplurality of functional units of the writing pad of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating interaction between aplurality of functional units of the base unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the writing pad of FIG. 1, the writingpad is docked into the base unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram that shows interaction of theplurality of functional units of the writing pad of FIG. 4 with theplurality of functional units of the base unit of FIG. 4 when thewriting pad is docked into the base unit;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method of operation of a writingpad that functions as per instructions from a base unit when docked intothe base unit; and

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a method of operation of a base unitthat controls operation of a writing pad when the writing pad is dockedinto the base unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a writing pad 110 and a base unit 160where the writing pad 110 functions differently when docked into thebase unit 160. The writing pad 110 includes a first pair of connectors140 and 144, a port 130 for plugging a digital pen 134 into and aplurality of serial and/or parallel ports for connecting one or moreperipheral devices with the writing pad 110. Typical examples of theperipheral devices are, for example and without limitation, mouse, USBmemory stick, microphone, modem, voice recording device and camera. Thewriting pad 110 includes a power socket 120 to connect to external dcpower supply or external ac power supply via an ac power adapter. Thewriting pad 110 includes at least one camera, a microphone, a lowcapacity memory and a processor with low processing power (not shown inFIG. 1). The base unit 160 includes a second pair of connectors 170 and174, a plurality of keys and a plurality of serial and/or parallel portsfor connecting one or more peripheral devices with the base unit 160.The base unit 160 includes a high capacity memory and a processor withhigh processing power (not shown in FIG. 1). A serial port 180 of thebase unit 160 may typically be used to connect any one of a modem,mouse, printer, USB memory stick etc. to the base unit 160. The baseunit 160 is adapted to be connected to external dc power supply oreternal ac power supply via an ac power adapter. Each of the writing pad110 and the base unit 160 includes rechargeable battery.

The writing pad 110 supports digital ink and multimedia recordingfunctionality. Anything written on top surface of the writing pad 110using the digital pen 134 gets recorded and stored in the low capacitymemory of the writing pad 110. The at least one camera and themicrophone of the writing pad 110 capture video and audio respectively.The writing pad 110 stores recorded video recorded audio in the lowcapacity memory. The writing pad 110 functions as a note capturing unit.

The base unit 160 supports voice recognition functionality and opticalcharacter recognition (OCR) functionality in addition to supportingstandard functionalities that are supported by a computer. The pluralityof keys in the base unit 160 serve as an input interface of the baseunit 160. The writing pad 110 is docked into the base unit 160 byconnecting the first pair of connectors 140 and 144 to the second pairof connectors 170 and 174 such that connector 140 connects to connector170 and connector 144 connects to connector 174, or vice versa. Thewriting pad 110 performs as per instructions from the high powerprocessor of the base unit 160 when the writing pad 110 is docked intothe base unit 160. In docked mode, the high power processor of the baseunit 160 retrieves recorded freehand notes, recorded audio and/or videofrom the low capacity memory of the writing pad 110 and runs the voicerecognition application on the retrieved audio and the OCR applicationon the retrieved freehand notes. The high power processor of the baseunit 160 in addition directs the writing pad 110 to work either in standalone mode or work as a display for the base unit 160. The writing pad110 captures freehand notes, audio and/or video if the writing pad 110is asked to work in stand alone mode. The writing pad 110 receives inputdata from the base unit 160 and displays the received data on the topsurface of the writing pad 110 if the writing pad 110 is instructed towork as a display for the base unit 160. The top surface of the writingpad 110 functions as a video display for the base unit 160.

Flow of data and control information between the writing pad 110 andbase unit 160 in when the writing pad 110 is docked into the base unit160 occurs via data bus and control bus wherein the data bus and thecontrol bus run through the first pair of connectors 140 and 144 and thesecond pair of connectors 170 and 174. In addition to the data bus andthe control bus, power bus runs through the first pair and the secondpair of connectors so that in docked mode the writing pad 110 may drawpower from the base unit's battery (not shown here) when the writingpad's battery (not shown here) gets fully discharged or during charging.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating interaction between aplurality of functional units of the writing pad 110 of FIG. 1. Thewriting pad 210 includes a processor 220 with relatively low powerdraw/functionality, a rechargeable battery 230, a data bus 250, a powerbus 260, a relatively low capacity memory 280, a wireless transceiver288, a wired transceiver 290, a first pair of connectors 292 and 294 anda port 296. The port 296 is used to plug a digital pen 240 into the port296. The writing pad 210 further includes at least one camera and atleast one microphone (not shown here). The at least one camera and theat least one microphone are communicatively coupled to the data bus 250and the power bus 260 via a camera I/F 282 and a microphone I/F 284respectively. The digital pen 240 gets communicatively coupled to thedata bus 250 and the power bus 260 of the writing pad 210 via an inputI/F 286. The input I/F 286 may work in conjunction with a display of thewriting pad 210. While the display of the writing pad 110 is notseparately displayed in FIG. 2, it is a display/input device that worksin conjunction with the digital pen 240 to receive input from a user.Further, when the writing pad 110 is docked, the display/input deviceserves as a display for the base unit.

The low power processor 220, the low capacity memory 280, the camera I/F282, the microphone I/F 284, the input I/F 286, the wireless transceiver288 and the wired transceiver 290 get power from the rechargeablebattery 230 via the power bus 260. The rechargeable battery 230 isconnected to an external dc or ac power source via a power port 232 andcan also be recharged via power bus 260. Information flows between theplurality of functional units (280, 282, 284, 286, 288, 290) of thewriting pad 210 and the low power processor 220 through the data bus250. The information includes of one or more of control information anddata. The data bus 250, in addition, runs through the first pair ofconnectors 292 and 294 of the writing pad 210 so that the writing pad210 exchanges data and/or control information with the base unit 160 ofFIG. 1 via the first pair of connectors 292 and 294 when the writing pad210 is docked into the base unit 160. The writing pad 210 furtherincludes of a plurality of serial and parallel ports that are used toconnect a plurality of peripheral devices to the writing pad 210.Examples of the plurality of peripheral devices are modem, mouse, USBmemory stick, microphone, camera etc.

The writing pad 210 supports digital ink and audio and video capturingfunctionality. Anything written on top surface (see writing pad display410 of FIG. 4) of the writing pad 210 using the digital pen 240 getsstored in the low capacity memory 280 of the writing pad 210. The atleast one camera and the at least one microphone of the writing pad 210respectively capture video and audio from the surroundings. The writingpad 210 stores the captured audio and video in the low capacity memory280. The at least one microphone may be a microphone with directionalaudio pickup capability. Video capturing by the at least one camera maybe guided by the microphone with directional audio pickup capability.The wireless transceiver 288 exchanges data with a wireless data networkvia a wireless I/F (not shown here). The wireless data network may beone of a, for example and without limitation, GPRS network, cdma-2000network, WLAN network, WiMAX network, Bluetooth network, satellitenetwork etc. The wired transceiver 290 exchanges data with a wired datanetwork via one of the plurality of parallel and serial ports of thewriting pad 210. Typical examples of the wired data network are cablenetwork, fiber optic network etc. The writing pad 210 is capable ofcapturing and storing free hand notes, capturing and storing audio andvideo and connecting to external wired and wireless data networks. Thememory 280 and the processor 220 of the writing pad 210 can respectivelyhave low capacity and of low processing power to run limitedfunctionalities supported by the writing pad 210. Cost, weight and sizeof the writing pad 210 is eventually low because of use of the lowcapacity memory 280 and the low power processor 220. Of course, thelocation of the various components of the writing pad 210 could beconfigured differently in different embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating interaction between aplurality of functional units of the base unit of FIG. 1. The base unit310 includes a processor 320 with high processing power, a second pairof connectors 360 and 362, a data bus 370, a power bus 380, a wiredtransceiver 390, a wireless transceiver 392, a memory 394 having highcapacity, an input I/F 396 and a rechargeable battery 330. Therechargeable battery 330 connects to an external dc power source or anac power source via a power socket 350. An input device for the baseunit 310 is one or more of a, for example and without limitation,keypad, touch screen, pen and touchpad, mouse etc. The base unit 310, inaddition, includes of a plurality of ports to communicatively connectperipheral devices with the base unit 310. Port 340 is one of theplurality of ports of the base unit 310. The plurality of functionalunits 320, 390, 392, 394 and 396 run on power received from the battery330 via the power bus 380. The plurality of functional units 320, 390,392, 394 and 396 are communicatively connected to the data bus 370. Thewired transceiver 390, the wireless transceiver 392, the high capacitymemory 394 and the input I/F 396 exchange information with the highpower processor 320 via the data bus 370. The information is one or moreof a control information and data. The data bus 370 runs through thesecond pair of connectors 360 and 362 so that the base unit 310exchanges data with the writing pad 110 of FIG. 1 via the second pair ofconnectors 360 and 362 when the writing pad 110 is docked into the baseunit 310. The base unit 310 does not include a screen.

The base unit 310 supports OCR functionality and voice recognitionfunctionality. The high power processor 320 of the base unit 310overrides the low power processor 220 of the writing pad 210 of FIG. 2when the writing pad 210 is docked into the base unit 310. In dockedmode, the plurality of functional units of the writing pad 210 receiveinstructions from the high power processor 320 of the base unit 310 andexecute the received instructions. The base unit 310 retrieves data fromthe low capacity memory 280 of the writing pad 210 via the data bus 250and the data bus 370 when the writing pad 210 is docked into the baseunit 310. The base unit 310 runs an OCR application and a voicerecognition application on the retrieved data. The base unit 310 uses aprocessor with high processing power and a memory with high capacity torun the OCR application and voice recognition application. In dockedmode the base unit 310 further uses the writing pad 210 as a screen. Thebase unit 310 sends data to be displayed to the writing pad via the databus 370 and the data bus 250 of the writing pad 210. The base unit 310directs the input I/F 286 of the writing pad 210 to receive the data tobe displayed from the data bus 250 and display the received data on topsurface of the writing pad 210.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the writing pad of FIG. 1, the writingpad is docked into the base unit 160 of FIG. 1. The writing pad 410 isdocked into the base unit 460 using the first pair of connectors 140 and144 and the second pair of connectors 170 and 174 of FIG. 1. In thedocked mode, i.e., when the writing pad 410 is docked into the base unit460, connector 140 is communicatively connected to connector 170 andconnector 144 is communicatively connected to connector 174. In standalone mode, i.e., when the writing pad 410 is not docked into the baseunit 460, the writing pad 410 performs freehand notes capturing andstoring functionality, audio and video capturing and storingfunctionality. A digital pen 430 communicatively connected to thewriting pad 410 is used to write notes on top surface of the writing pad410. The writing pad 410 has a low power processor, a rechargeablebattery and a low capacity memory to support stand alone modefunctionalities. A power socket 420 is used to connect the writing pad410 to an external dc or ac power supply if the rechargeable battery ofthe writing pad 410 needs charging. The base unit 460 has a high powerprocessor, a rechargeable battery, a keypad 440 and a high capacitymemory. The base unit 460 supports standard functionalities supported bya computer. The keypad 440 serves as an input device to the base unit460. The base unit 460 includes a plurality of ports via which the baseunit 460 communicates with one or more devices. Port 470 is one of theplurality of ports of the base unit 460. The plurality of ports are oneor combination of serial port and parallel port. The rechargeablebattery of the base unit 460 is connected to an external dc or ac powersupply through power socket 480 of the base unit 460.

In docked mode, the high power processor of the base unit 460 overridesand/or augments the low power processor of the writing pad 410. Thewriting pad 410 and the base unit 460 exchange information via databuses that run through the first pair of connectors 140 and 144 and thesecond pair of connectors 170 and 174. The information includes dataand/or control information. The base unit 460 uses the writing pad 410as a display in docked mode. The base unit 460 sends data to bedisplayed on the writing pad 410 to the data buses. The high powerprocessor of the base unit 460 instructs the low power processor of thewriting pad 410 to receive the data from the data buses and subsequentlydisplay the received data on top surface of the writing pad 410. Adisplay is laid on the top surface of the writing pad 410 so that thedata sent by the base unit 460 is visible on the writing pad 410. Indocked mode, the base unit 460 retrieves freehand notes, audio and videostored in the low capacity memory of the writing pad 410. The base unitruns OCR application and voice recognition application on the retrievedfreehand notes and the retrieved audio respectively.

In another embodiment the base unit 460 directs the writing pad 410 tofunction in stand alone mode even when the writing pad 410 is dockedinto the base unit 460. In the another embodiment the writing pad 410captures one or combination of freehand notes, audio and video and sendscaptured data to the base unit 460 via the data buses. The base unit 460runs the OCR application and voice recognition application on thecaptured data.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram that shows interaction of theplurality of functional units of the writing pad 410 of FIG. 4 with theplurality of functional units of the base unit 460 of FIG. 4 when thewriting pad 410 is docked into the base unit 460. The writing pad 510includes a data bus 522, a power bus 524, a battery 530, a processor 520with low processing power, a low capacity memory 540, a camera I/F 542,a microphone I/F 544, a digital pen I/F 546, a wireless transceiver 548,a wired transceiver 550 and a first pair of connectors (not shown). Thelow power processor 520, the low capacity memory 540, the camera I/F542, the microphone I/F 544, the digital pen I/F 546, the wirelesstransceiver 548 and the wired transceiver 550 receive power from thebattery 530 via the power bus 524. The low capacity memory 540, thecamera I/F 542, the microphone I/F 544, the digital pen I/F 546, thewireless transceiver 548 and the wired transceiver 550 arecommunicatively connected to the low power processor 520 via thebidirectional data bus 522 and exchange information with the low powerprocessor 520 via the data bus 522. The information includes data and/orcontrol information. The data bus 522, in addition, is communicativelyconnected to the first pair of connectors. The base unit 560 includes asecond pair of connectors 576 and 577. The first pair of connectors ofthe writing pad 510 gets physically and communicatively connected withthe second pair of connectors 576 and 577 of the base unit 560 when thewriting pad 510 is docked into the base unit 560. The data bus 522 ofthe writing pad 510 gets communicatively connected to the second pair ofconnectors 576 and 577 of the base unit 560 when the writing pad 510 isdocked into the base unit 560. The low power processor 520, the lowcapacity memory 540, the camera I/F 542, the microphone I/F 544, thedigital pen I/F 546, the wireless transceiver 548 and the wiredtransceiver 550 get communicatively connected to the second pair ofconnectors 576 and 577 of the base unit 560 when the writing pad 510 isdocked into the base unit 560.

The base unit 560 includes a processor with high processing power 570, abattery 580, a wired transceiver 582, a wireless transceiver 584, amemory with high capacity 586, a keypad I/F 588, a data bus 572, a powerbus 574 and the second pair of connectors 576 and 577. The high powerprocessor 570, the wired transceiver 582, the wireless transceiver 584,the memory 586 and the keypad I/F 588 receive power from the battery 580via the power bus 574. The wired transceiver 582, the wirelesstransceiver 584, the memory 586 and the keypad I/F 588 exchange datawith the high power processor 570 through the data bus 572. The data bus572 is communicatively connected to the second pair of connectors 576and 577. The data bus 572 gets communicatively connected to first pairof connectors of the writing pad 510 when the writing pad 510 is dockedinto the base unit 560. A data pathway gets established between the highpower processor 570 of the base unit 560 and the low power processor 520of the writing pad 510 via the data bus 572 of the base unit 560, thesecond pair of connectors 576 and 577, the first pair of connectors (notshown here) and the data bus 522 of the writing pad 510 when the writingpad 510 is docked into the base unit 560.

The high power processor 570 controls operation of the wired transceiver582, the wireless transceiver 584, the memory 586 and the keypad I/F 588of the base unit 560. The high power processor 570 retrieves data fromthe memory 540 of the writing pad 510 via the data pathway between thewriting pad 510 and the base unit 560 when the writing pad 510 is dockedinto the base unit 560. The retrieved data includes audio and/or digitalink recorded by the writing pad 510 when the writing pad 510 was notdocked into the base unit 560. The high power processor 570 runs voicerecognition application on the recorded audio and optical characterrecognition application on recorded digital ink. The high powerprocessor 570 in addition does one of the following when the writing pad510 is in docked mode: (a) controls operation of the plurality of thefunctional units of the writing pad 510 (520, 540, 542, 544, 546, 548,550), thereby overriding the low power processor 520, (b) directs thelow power processor 520 to control operation of the plurality offunctional units of the writing pad 510, (c) sends data to the low powerprocessor 520 via the data pathway and directs the low power processor520 to display the data on the writing pad 510. A display is laid on topsurface of the writing pad 510 and the low power processor 520 displaysthe data sent by the high power processor on the top surface of thewriting pad 510. The high power processor 570 of the base unit 560 sendscontrol information and/or data to the plurality of the functional unitsof the writing pad 510 (520, 540, 542, 544, 546, 548, 550) via the datapathway that gets established between the writing pad 510 and the baseunit 560 when the writing pad 510 is docked into the base unit 560 insituation (a), (b) and (c).

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method 600 of operation of awriting pad that functions as per instructions from a base unit whendocked into the base unit. The writing pad includes at least onemicrophone, at least one camera, a display, a memory and supportsdigital ink. The writing pad determines whether the writing pad isdocked into the base unit in block 610. The writing pad is adapted towork as per instruction from the base unit if the writing pad is dockedinto the base unit in block 610. The writing pad further determines inblock 630 a mode in which the writing pad is to operate if the writingpad is docked into the base unit. The writing pad receives the digitalink and data from one or more of the at least one microphone, the atleast one camera in step 620 if the writing pad determines in the block610 that the writing pad is not docked into the base unit or the writingpad determines in the block 630 that the writing pad is instructed tooperate in stand alone mode. The writing pad stores the digital ink andthe data received in the step 620 in the memory of the writing pad. Thewriting pad waits for input data from the base unit as shown in block640 if the writing pad determines that it has been instructed to notoperate in stand alone mode. The input data in the block 640 comes fromone or more of a keypad of the base unit, network interface card of thebase unit, memory of the base unit and any of a variety of peripheraldevices communicatively connected to the base unit. A communicationpathway between the writing pad and the base unit comes into existencewhen the writing pad is docked into the base unit. The input data flowsfrom the base unit to the writing pad via the communication pathway inthe block 640. The writing pad displays the input data received from thebase unit on the display of the writing pad as shown in block 650.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a method of operation 700 of a baseunit that controls operation of a writing pad when the writing pad isdocked into the base unit. The base unit includes a processor and voicerecognition software and optical character recognition software. Thewriting pad is adapted to capture digital ink, audio and video and tostore the captured audio, video and digital ink in a memory of thewriting pad. The base unit in block 710 determines if the writing pad isattached to the base unit. The base unit controls operations of aplurality of functional units of the base unit if the writing pad is notdocked into the base unit. The plurality of functional units of the baseunit are, typically and not restricted to, a memory, a networkinterface, an input interface etc. Each of the plurality of functionalunits is one or combination of a hardware and a software. The base unitfetches the captured data from the memory of the writing pad as shown ina block 730 if the writing pad is attached to the base unit. In a nextstep 740 the base unit runs the optical character recognition (OCR)software on the captured digital ink and runs the vice recognitionsoftware on the captured audio. Information that gets generated afterrunning the OCR software and the voice recognition software on thecaptured digital ink and the captured audio respectively is sent by thebase unit to the memory of the writing pad for storage or stored by thebase unit in the memory of the base unit. The base unit in addition torunning the OCR software and voice recognition software sends data to adisplay of the writing pad. The data includes one or more of an inputreceived via the network interface or the input interface of the baseunit, information stored in the memory of the base unit etc.

The terms “circuit” and “circuitry” as used herein may refer to anindependent circuit or to a portion of a multifunctional circuit thatperforms multiple underlying functions. For example, depending on theembodiment, processing circuitry may be implemented as a single chipprocessor or as a plurality of processing chips. Likewise, a firstcircuit and a second circuit may be combined in one embodiment into asingle circuit or, in another embodiment, operate independently perhapsin separate chips. The term “chip,” as used herein, refers to anintegrated circuit. Circuits and circuitry may comprise general orspecific purpose hardware, or may comprise such hardware and associatedsoftware such as firmware or object code.

The present invention has also been described above with the aid ofmethod steps illustrating the performance of specified functions andrelationships thereof. The boundaries and sequence of these functionalbuilding blocks and method steps have been arbitrarily defined hereinfor convenience of description. Alternate boundaries and sequences canbe defined so long as the specified functions and relationships areappropriately performed. Any such alternate boundaries or sequences arethus within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention.

The present invention has been described above with the aid offunctional building blocks illustrating the performance of certainsignificant functions. The boundaries of these functional buildingblocks have been arbitrarily defined for convenience of description.Alternate boundaries could be defined as long as the certain significantfunctions are appropriately performed. Similarly, flow diagram blocksmay also have been arbitrarily defined herein to illustrate certainsignificant functionality. To the extent used, the flow diagram blockboundaries and sequence could have been defined otherwise and stillperform the certain significant functionality. Such alternatedefinitions of both functional building blocks and flow diagram blocksand sequences are thus within the scope and spirit of the claimedinvention. One of average skill in the art will also recognize that thefunctional building blocks, and other illustrative blocks, modules andcomponents herein, can be implemented as illustrated or by discretecomponents, application specific integrated circuits, processorsexecuting appropriate software and the like or any combination thereof.

As may be used herein, the terms “substantially” and “approximately”provides an industry-accepted tolerance for its corresponding termand/or relativity between items. Such an industry-accepted toleranceranges from less than one percent to fifty percent and corresponds to,but is not limited to, component values, integrated circuit processvariations, temperature variations, rise and fall times, and/or thermalnoise. Such relativity between items ranges from a difference of a fewpercent to magnitude differences. As may also be used herein, theterm(s) “coupled to” and/or “coupling” and/or includes direct couplingbetween items and/or indirect coupling between items via an interveningitem (e.g., an item includes, but is not limited to, a component, anelement, a circuit, and/or a module) where, for indirect coupling, theintervening item does not modify the information of a signal but mayadjust its current level, voltage level, and/or power level. As mayfurther be used herein, inferred coupling (i.e., where one element iscoupled to another element by inference) includes direct and indirectcoupling between two items in the same manner as “coupled to.” As mayeven further be used herein, the term “operable to” indicates that anitem includes one or more of power connections, input(s), output(s),etc., to perform one or more its corresponding functions and may furtherinclude inferred coupling to one or more other items. As may stillfurther be used herein, the term “associated with,” includes directand/or indirect coupling of separate items and/or one item beingembedded within another item. As may be used herein, the term “comparesfavorably,” indicates that a comparison between two or more items,signals, etc., provides a desired relationship. For example, when thedesired relationship is that signal 1 has a greater magnitude thansignal 2, a favorable comparison may be achieved when the magnitude ofsignal 1 is greater than that of signal 2 or when the magnitude ofsignal 2 is less than that of signal 1.

The present invention has also been described above with the aid ofmethod steps illustrating the performance of specified functions andrelationships thereof. The boundaries and sequence of these functionalbuilding blocks and method steps have been arbitrarily defined hereinfor convenience of description. Alternate boundaries and sequences canbe defined so long as the specified functions and relationships areappropriately performed. Any such alternate boundaries or sequences arethus within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention.

Moreover, although described in detail for purposes of clarity andunderstanding by way of the aforementioned embodiments, the presentinvention is not limited to such embodiments. It will be obvious to oneof average skill in the art that various changes and modifications maybe practiced within the spirit and scope of the invention, as limitedonly by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A multimedia device, the multimedia devicecomprising: a stand alone first unit that comprises a first rechargeablebattery, a low power processor, a low capacity memory, a display, amicrophone, a camera and a first data bus, the first unit supportingaudio, video and digital ink capturing functionality; a stand alonesecond unit that can be detached and reattached to the first unit, thesecond unit comprising a second rechargeable battery, a high powerprocessor, a high capacity memory, an input interface and a second databus and supporting optical character recognition functionality and voicerecognition functionality, wherein the second unit runs an opticalcharacter recognition application and a voice recognition application onthe captured digital ink and the captured audio respectively, andwherein the captured digital ink and the captured audio are receivedfrom the first unit via the communication pathway; a communicationpathway that gets established between the first unit and the second unitwhen the first unit is physically attached to the second unit, thecommunication pathway enabling information flow between the first unitand the second unit when the first unit and the second unit arephysically connected; the high power processor of the second unitoverriding the low power processor of the first unit when the first unitis attached to the second unit by way of sending control information tothe low power processor via the communication pathway; wherein thesecond unit directs the first unit to display input data from the secondunit on the display of the first unit; and wherein the high powerprocessor of the second unit directs the low power processor of thefirst unit to continue performing audio, video and digital ink capturingfunctionalities when the first unit is attached to the second unit. 2.The multimedia device of claim 1, wherein the first unit delivers thecaptured audio, video and digital ink to the second unit via thecommunication pathway in pursuance to the control information receivedfrom the second unit.
 3. The multimedia device of claim 1, wherein thesecond unit delivers the input data to the first unit via thecommunication pathway.
 4. The multimedia device of claim 1, wherein thefirst unit comprises a communication network interface and the firstunit receives the input data from a communication network via thecommunication network interface.
 5. A method performed by a multimediadevice that comprises two detachable and re-attachable stand aloneunits, the method comprising: capturing audio, video and digital ink viafirst of the two detachable stand alone units, the first unit comprisinga display, a low capacity memory, a low power processor and a firstbattery; storing the captured audio, video, and digital ink in the lowcapacity memory of the first unit; establishing a communication pathwaybetween the first unit and a second of the two detachable stand aloneunits when the first unit is physically attached to the second unit, thesecond unit comprising a high capacity memory, a high power processorand a second battery; sending the captured audio, video and digital inkfrom the low capacity memory of the first unit to the high capacitymemory of the second unit via the communication pathway when the firstunit is attached to the second unit; causing the high power processor ofthe second unit to run a voice recognition application on the capturedaudio and an optical character recognition application on the captureddigital ink; directing the high power processor of the second unit todisplay data from the second unit on the display of the first unit whenthe first unit is attached to the second unit; and directing the lowpower processor of the first unit to continue performing audio, videoand digital ink capturing functionalities when the first unit isattached to the second unit.
 6. The method of claim 5 furthercomprising: storing data generated after running the voice recognitionapplication on the captured audio and running the optical characterrecognition application on the captured digital ink in the high capacitymemory of the second unit.
 7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:directing the high power processor of the second unit to deliver thestored data to the low capacity memory of the first unit when the firstunit is re-attached to the second unit.
 8. A multimedia device, themultimedia device comprising: a first unit that comprises a firstrechargeable battery, a low power processor, a low capacity memory, adisplay, a microphone, a camera and a first data bus, the first unitcapturing audio, video and digital ink; a second unit that can bedetached and reattached to the first unit, the second unit comprising asecond rechargeable battery, a high power processor, a high capacitymemory, an input interface and a second data bus and supporting opticalcharacter recognition functionality and voice recognition functionality,wherein the second unit uses the display included in the first unit as aprimary display device and runs an optical character recognitionapplication and a voice recognition application on the captured digitalink and the captured audio respectively, and wherein the captureddigital ink and the captured audio are received from the first unit viathe communication pathway; a communication pathway that gets establishedbetween the first unit and the second unit when the first unit isphysically attached to the second unit, the communication pathwayenabling information flow between the first unit and the second unitwhen the first unit and the second unit are physically connected; thehigh power processor of the second unit overriding the low powerprocessor of the first unit when the first unit is attached to thesecond unit by way of sending control information to the low powerprocessor via the communication pathway; and the high power processor ofthe second unit directing the low power processor of the first unit tocontinue performing audio, video and digital ink capturingfunctionalities when the first unit is attached to the second unit. 9.The multimedia device of claim 8, wherein the first unit delivers thecaptured audio, video and digital ink to the second unit via thecommunication pathway in pursuance to the control information receivedfrom the second unit.
 10. The multimedia device of claim 8, wherein thesecond unit delivers input data to the display of the first unit via thecommunication pathway.
 11. The multimedia device of claim 8, wherein thefirst unit comprises a communication network interface and the firstunit receives input data from a communication network via thecommunication network interface.
 12. The multimedia device of claim 8,wherein the high power processor of the second unit directs the lowpower processor of the first unit to continue performing audio, videoand digital ink capturing functionalities when the first unit isattached to the second unit.